Adjustable mounting for rock drills

ABSTRACT

An adjustable mounting for a rock drill having a feed tilt mechanism whereby the elongated drill guide frame is pivotable by a tilt cylinder through at least 150*. This capability is made possible by the use of a cylinder rod extension having its motion controlled by a pivot arm pivotably mounted on the same yoke as is the guide frame.

United States Patent Beagan, Jr.

[54] ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING FOR ROCK DRILLS [72] Inventor: Michael A. Beagan, Jr., 255 Pleasant, Claremont, NH. 03743 [22] Filed: May 15, 1970 [211 App]. No.: 37,628

[52] US. Cl ..173/43, 173/28 [51] Int. Cl ..E2lc 11/02 [58] Field ofSeai-ch ..173/28, 43,44; 248/13, 16

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,436,120 4/1969 Armstrong ..l73/43 X [451 May 23, 1972 3,470,969 10/1969 Arcangeli.. ..l73/43 3,263,758 8/1966 Buehler ..l73/43 Primary ExaminerEmest R. Purser Attorney-E. Wallace Breisch ABSTRACT An adjustable mounting for a rock drill having a feed tilt mechanism whereby the elongated drill guide frame is pivotable by a tilt cylinder through at least 150. This capability is made possible by the use of a cylinder rod extension having its motion controlled by a pivot arm pivotably mounted on the same yoke as is the guide frame.

10Clains,5 DrawingFigures ar al PATENTEDmza I972 3,664,436

SHEET 1 [IF 4 INVENTOR.

M icHAEL AB AGAN JR.

PATENTED MAY 2 3 I972 sum 3 0F 11 INVENTOR. MICHAEL A. BEAGAN hm mm PATENTEDHAY 23 1912 SHEET 4 [1F 4 INVENTOR.

MICHAEL A. BEAGAN JR.

ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING FOR ROCK DRILLS In the field of rock drills it has been well known for many years to mount the guide frame and drill on the end of a universally pivotable boom and to make the drill carrying guide frame pivotable with respect to the ends of the boom in both directions. Rotation of the guide frame transversely to the axis of the boom (lateral rotation) is normally accomplished by a single cylinder giving a limited amount of swing such as 50 or 60 total. In a similar manner rotation of the guide frame about an axis substantially normal to the axis of the boom (hereinafter designated tilting) has been accomplished in various ways but usually limited to about 90 with a single cylinder. In prior art machines to translate the positionin g of the guide frame and drill mounted thereon from the forward drilling mode including the ability to drill somewhat upwardly of the boom axis as in drilling a toe hole, to the mode of drilling required in presplit operations wherein the bottom end of the guide frame is pointed backwardly under the mobile support, i.e. the crawler frame, it has usually been necessary to change a pivot pin from one hole to another, employ two separate tilt cylinders, or as in the latest development employ a bell crank and double pivots between the boom and the guide frame to give the required ability to tilt through a total are of nearly 180 to accomplish the above described change in mode of operation.

Such prior art arrangements have been able to provide the necessary ability for change of direction but have been unsatisfactory in that when it was necessary to change a pin as in the earlier devices there was a necessary interruption of productive drilling plus the inconvenience and even danger to the operators in removing a stabilizing portion of the machine even temporarily. In the case of using two separate tilt cylinders the added weight and expense and complication of using two cylinders in place of one is obvious. In the latest apparatus where the bell crank and two parallel pivot pins are used between the boom and the guide frame it is obvious that the added crank element between these two members will seriously affect the stability of the guide frame with respect to the boom with well known deleterious effects on drilling action and wearing life of the drill bits and steels.

With the design according to the instant invention no shifting of pins, no second tilt cylinder, or second pivot pin with accompanying extra element are necessary with the result that the total tilting action is achieved without interruption in the drilling procedures, without danger to the operator and without the added complication of an extra cylinder. Furthermore the apparatus according to the instant invention provides superior stability in all modes of operation because the guide frame tilts with respect to boom about a single pivot pin secured to both the guide frame and a boom element.

These and other advantages of the apparatus of this invention will be more readily apparent upon consideration of the following description and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the adjustable rock drill mounting of this invention including phantom views of different guide frame positions made possible by the action of the tilt mechanism;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational fragmentary view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view of the apparatus portion shown in FIG. 2 taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view showing a greater amount of the machine of FIG. 1 including all the mechanisms shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 with phantom views to show the position of various parts of the apparatus in different attitudes;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the same fragment as that shown in FIG. 4 with the parts shown in an extreme position to illustrate the novel capabilities of the apparatus of this invention.

In FIG. 1 there is shown a track drill of a type well known in the art generally indicated at and comprising a crawler tracked mobile support 12 having universally pivotally mounted thereon a drill supporting boom member 14 supported and rendered universally movable by a lift cylinder 16 and a swing cylinder (not shown) in a manner more completely illustrated and described in my earlier US. Pat. No. 2,975,993. The forward end (to the right as seen in FIG. 1) of the boom 14 supports a guide frame support 19 slidably supporting an elongated drill guide frame 18 on which is mounted, for longitudinal drill feed action, a drill motor 20 connected to elongated drill steels 22 having rigidly secured at one end thereof a drill bit 24, all as well known in the rock drilling art.

The principles of this invention are particularly embodied in the connection of the boom 14 of the drill frame support I9 through a yoke member 26 and a trunion support member 28 pivotally connected together by a single pivot pin 29 which three members constitute the portion of the apparatus which gives freedom for tilt action of the guide frame 18 with respect to the boom 14 about an axis substantially normal to the central longitudinal axis of the boom 14. This tilting action to an extreme in each direction is shown in FIG. I by the broken line representation of the guide frame 18' and the bit end of drill steel 22 in the downwardly and backwardly inclined (presplit) position with the drilling action taking place toward and underneath the mobile support 12 and the broken line representations indicated at 22" and 18" showing the extreme opposite tilted position with the drill steel pointing upwardly forwardly along the guide frame 18" in a position relative to the boom 14 such as would be necessary for drilling an extremely low horizontally forwardly directed toe hole in the face which is one of the more difficult positions to accomplish in face drilling. This tilt capability as illustrated in FIG. 1 is more clearly shown in FIG. 4 where an are 40 having a center on the axis of the pivot pin 29 and extending between extreme positions of a single element shows a total arcuate length of more than (shown as approximately which is the total difference in attitude necessary for the above described extreme positions providing the presplit 22 and the toe hole 22" capabilities required in a track drill such as herein illustrated.

Referring now to the fragmentarv view of FIG. 2 it is to be seen that a portion of the guide frame support 19 is shown approximately parallel to the illustrated fragment of the boom 14 in which intermediate position the drill steel 22 would be projecting horizontally forward if the boom at this time were horizontally disposed. In this intermediate position as shown in FIG. 2 and also illustrated in plan view in FIG. 3 it is to be seen that the 170 of tilting capability is accomplished by the apparatus of this invention with a single tilt cylinder 34 having a rod end 36 connected by a single link 32 to the trunion support member 28. Control of the positioning of the tilt cvlinder 34 in its pivoting support pivot bracket 38 is accomplished by an arm element 42 pivotally connected to both the rod 36 and the link 32 at a common point and pivotally mounted on the yoke 26 at a point intermediate the pivot pin 29 and the boom 14 by means of an arm pin 43 while the end of the link 32 remote from the tilt cylinder 34 is pivotally connected to the trunion support 28 bv way of a pin 46. Since the guide frame must have lateral rotative capability about various axes represented by the different positions of the central axis of the trunion support member 28 the frame 18 is mounted on a substantially cylindrical trunion member 30 extending normal to the frame 18 and pivotally secured within the support member 28 to yield these rotative capabilities.

For better understanding of the connection just described it is recommended to examine FIG. 3 which is a plan view partially cut away of the fragment shown in elevation in the FIG. 2. In observing FIG. 3 it is to be noted that the pivot bracket 38 has a pair of bearing caps 39 which captivelv pivotally retain mounting trunions 37 of the tilt cylinder 34 in a manner well known in the art. It is further to be noted that the forward end of the rod 36 is enlarged into the usual circular rod end to receive a pin 41 which is also pivotally received in suitable bores in the upper end portion of the arm element 42 and in the widely spread apart rear end portions of the link 32 connecting all three together as earlier described. The pin 46 connecting the forward end of the link 32 to the rearwardly extending ear portions of the trunion support member 28 may also be well observed in FIG. 3 wherein it also becomes clear that to give the maximum tilt capability to the guide frame 18 the direct support portion of the yoke 26 is offset to the right of the boom (toward the bottom of the sheet as seen in FIG. 3) so that the pin 43 extends between a pair of arm portions 31 of the yoke member 26 on opposite sides of the centerline of the guide frame support 19 but offset from the centerline of the boom 14 and of the tilt cylinder 34 by an amount sufficient to allow the guide frame support 19 to swing downward along side the tilt cylinder 34 and the boom 14 as best seen in FIG. 3.

Inspection of FIGS. 4 and 5 will make it easier to understand the action of the arm 42 as applied to the link 32, the rod 36 and the tilt cylinder 34. To provide for positive powered rotation of a pivotallymounted lever it is well known to connect the rod end of a pivotally mounted cylinder thereto so that the pivot lever can be rotated through an are. It is however also well known that it is very difficult to achieve a rotation of more than perhaps 90 or 100 by such direct action. It is in order to increase this pivoting capability that prior art mechanism have applied a pin shiftable between different portions of the pivoting lever to give rotation in different sectors of the desired arc while other prior art mechanisms have employed two or more cylinders to achieve greater arcuate capability and the latest ideas have centered around using two or more pivoting elements between the boom and the guide frame. According to the instant invention however, direct pivoting connection is maintained between the boom and the guide frame about a single pivot axis for tilting action and a single tilt cylinder 34 is utilized with a single rod end 36. But the link 32 extending between the rod end 36 and the trunion support member 28 gives the effect of a flexible connection which is however longitudinally rigid to provide both push and pull action between the rod 36 and the trunion support member 28 so that a full 170 of rotation is possible with single cvlinder and single pivot pin action in a way quite unique in the drill support art. Consistently with the other figures the extreme upwardly forwardly slanting position of the guide frame support 19 is indicated as 19" in FIGS. 4 and 5 with the position of the pivot pins 41' and 46 indicating positions of the guide frame as indicated at 18' in FIG. 1 and also in FIG. 4 although shown solid in FIG. 4. The 19" guide frame support position from FIG. 1 with pins 41" and 46" is shown solid in FIG. 5 in the extreme upwardly and forwardly pointing position of the guide frame 18". It is to be noted that neither the pin 29 nor the pin 43 changes its position relative to the boom 14 during all of the tilting action.

It is of course to be realized that the yoke 26 may be connected to the boom 14 in any desirable manner such as being rotatable as shown in US. Pat. No. 3,226,064 (Thompson) or extendable along the line of the boom axis without departing from the principles of this invention so long as no tilting action of the yoke 26 with respect to the boom 14 is possible.

It is further to be noted that mounting of the boom 14 on a tracked vehicle is not limiting upon this invention which may be used with any type of boom support either mobile or fixed.

One embodiment of this invention having hereinabove been described and illustrated it is to be realized that variations of the application of the principles of this invention are possible and are envisioned. It is therefore respectfully requested that this invention be interpreted as broadly as possible and limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

l A drill mounting comprising: an elongated boorn; a yoke member non-pivotally mounted at the free end of said boom; a guide frame supporting member pivotally mounted on said yoke member for limited rotation with respect to said boom about a single axis substantially normal to the axis of said boom; a guide frame mounted on said supporting member; an extensible fluid operated cylinder pivotally mounted on said yoke member having an extendable and retractable rod element; a link elementpivotally connected to said rod element and to said supporting member; an arm member pivotally mounted on said yoke member and pivotally connected to at least one of said elements whereby at least about of guide frame tilting action is provided relative to said yoke member.

2. A drill mounting as specified in claim 1 wherein said boom has therein an extensible inner member and said yoke member is mounted at the emergent end of said extensible member.

3. A drill mounting as specified in claim 1 wherein said rod element said link element and said arm member are pivotally connected together by a single pin to pivot relative to each other about a common axis.

4. A drill mounting as specified in claim 1 wherein said guide frame is pivotally mounted on said supporting member for limited rotation about an axis generally parallel to the plane of the axis of said boom.

5. A drill mounting as specified in claim 4 wherein said guide frame is an elongated member having a drill motor slidably mounted thereon for powered movement longitudinally of said guide frame. 7

6. A drill mounting as specified in claim 5 wherein said drill motor is drivingly connected to an elongated drill steel and a drill bit is drivingly mounted upon the end of said drill steel remote from said motor.

7. A drill mounting as specified in claim 1 wherein said arm member and said guide frame supporting member are pivotable relative to said yoke member about respective parallel axes.

8. A drill mounting as specified in claim 7 wherein said rod element, said link element and said arm member are connected by a common pin to pivot about a common axis and said fluid operated cylinder is pivotable about an axis parallel to the said common axis which is in turn parallel to the aforementioned parallel axes.

9. A drill mounting as specified in claim 8 wherein said yoke member has a pair of spaced apart end portions each of said end portions having a pair of parallel bores extending therethrough substantially normal to the axis of said boom and mating with the parallel bores of the opposite one of said spaced arm portions to receive therein respective pins providing the pivoting action of said arm and said guide frame support member relative to said yoke member.

10. A drill mounting as specified in claim 1 wherein said yoke member is rigidly secured to the free end of said boom member. 

1. A drill mounting comprising: an elongated boom; a yoke member non-pivotally mounted at the free end of said boom; a guide frame supporting member pivotally mounted on said yoke member for limited rotation with respect to said boom about a single axis substantially normal to the axis of said boom; a guide frame mounted on said supporting member; an extensible fluid operated cylinder pivotally mounted on said yoke member having an extendable and retractable rod element; a link element pivotally connected to said rod element and to said supporting member; an arm member pivotally mounted on said yoke member and pivotally connected to at least one of said elements whereby at least about 150* of guide frame tilting action is provided relative to said yoke member.
 2. A drill mounting as specified in claim 1 wherein said boom has therein an extensible inner member and said yoke member is mounted at the emergent end of said extensible member.
 3. A drill mounting as specified in claim 1 wherein said rod element said link element and said arm member are pivotally connected together by a single pin to pivot relative to each other about a common axis.
 4. A drill mounting as specified in claim 1 wherein said guide frame is pivotally mounted on said supporting member for limited rotation about an axis generally parallel to the plane of the axis of said boom.
 5. A drill mounting as specified in claim 4 wherein said guide frame is an elongated member having a drill motor slidably mounted thereon for powered movement longitudinally of said guide frame.
 6. A drill mounting as specified in claim 5 wherein said drill motor is drivingly connected to an elongated drill steel and a drill bit is drivingly mounted upon the end of said drill steel remote from said motor.
 7. A drill mounting as specified in claim 1 wherein said arm member and said guide frame supporting member are pivotable relative to said yoke member about respective parallel axes.
 8. A drill mounting as specified in claim 7 wherein said rod element, said link element and said arm member are connected by a common pin to pivot about a common axis and said fluid operated cylinder is pivotable about an axis parallel to the said common axis which is in turn parallel to the aforementioned parallel axes.
 9. A drill mounting as specified in claim 8 wherein said yoke member has a pair of spaced apart end portions each of said end portions having a pair of parallel bores extending therethrough substantially normal to the axis of said booM and mating with the parallel bores of the opposite one of said spaced arm portions to receive therein respective pins providing the pivoting action of said arm and said guide frame support member relative to said yoke member.
 10. A drill mounting as specified in claim 1 wherein said yoke member is rigidly secured to the free end of said boom member. 